I'm sure I've encountered several Pfeilstorchs working on software.<p>Finding out edge-cases in complex behavior by accident - while trying to fix bug A, indroducing bug B which then leads to discovering unrelated unexpected behavior C with then explains old mystery bug D.
> Besides migration, some theories of the time held that they turned into other kinds of birds, mice<p>I'm guessing/hoping this was more folklore and not a serious theory :)
Always amusing and perplexing in equal measure to hear about some of the nonsense people used to believe about the natural world before the principles of scientific enquiry took root.<p>That said, the idea of animals transmuting into a different species is at least backed by apparent precedent (caterpillar-butterfly, tadpole-frog), and non-trivial to disprove. That maggots spontaneously generate from rotting meat, or some of the 'cryptids' described by Pliny (<a href="https://medium.com/exploring-history/meet-six-of-the-beasts-in-plinys-natural-history-55753fbf9e72" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/exploring-history/meet-six-of-the-beasts-...</a>), err less so.